Oil well treating apparatus



July l5, 1952 A. c. RUSSELL 2,603,296

' OIL WELL TREATING APPARATUS Filed June zo, 1949 BY F' Z; 4 T'RNE Patented Juy 15, 11952 OFFICE j -l on.J vvELL TREATING yAPPARATUS AndrewCraig BusselLvShawnee, Okla.

t Application tTune 20, 1949, serial No. 190,289

This invention relates to novel apparatus for usein connection with the treating Vof -liquids by means of application of heat thereto, the primary object being to provide relatively sim'- ple, inexpensive and easily operated structure capable of automatically and thoroughly applying steam to oil and admixing the same whereby the oil is heated and purpose desired. c

In the petroleum industry, diiiculty is quite often experienced in ecient roperation of the wells themselves through coating oi 'the walls thereof with paraffin and like substances that retard the| free ow of thev oils being pumped. Many attempts have been made to rectify the problem and it has been found that the most practical means is to apply heat thereto in order to melt the paraffin-like coatings, butthe diilculty arises in a suitable means for heating such coatings.

It is the most important object of this invention therefore, to provide improved apparatus capable of treating oil wells or treating of any iluids through application of steam pressure thereto and admixing such steam with the oil to the end that the latter is heated and the parafn content thereof is liquefied.

Another important object ofthe present invention is to provide apparatus kfor treating oils or oil wells having a hollow tank provided with an inlet andan outlet opening, the oil to be treated being directed into the tank and steam being conveyed to the oil for admixture therewith as the latter enters the aforesaid tank.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide a tank for receiving simultaneously the oil-to be treated and steam for treating the same, the oil and the steam being thoroughly admixed by creating a turbulence within the tank and by causing the same to dwell therewithin for a predetermined period of time prior to release either back to the original storage tank or into a well to be treated.

Other more minor objects will be made clear or become apparent as the following specification progresses, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a schematic elevational view partially in section showing an oil well treating apparatus embodying my present invention; and

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, vertical, cross-sectional view through the treating tank per se.

In Fig. 1 of the drawing, there is shown fragmentarily a storage tank for oil or other fluid designated by the numeral I0. This tank I thereby treated for anyV has anoutlet connection with a pump I2 through a pipe I4 that in turn has a manual control-valve I6 interposed therein. -The outlet end of the pump :I2 is connected by means of a line I8 with the lowermost end of an upright, hollow tank 20.

An outletopening is'formed in the tank 20 adjacent the uppermost end thereof' communicating with a conduit 22 that in turn is provided with a thermostatic valve 24 having its thermo element 26 connecting directly with tank 20.

An oil well broadly designated by the numeral 28 is of conventional character in that the same is provided with an elongated, hollow casing 30 and the usual tubing 32 through which the petroleum produced by Well 28, is pumped by conventional mechanism not shown. Yl

VConduit 22v connects directly with the casing 30 by means of ya-pipe 34 having a control valve 36 therein.

T-joint 38 between conduit 22 and vpipe 34, couples withstorage tank I0 by means of a conduit 40 provided with a control valve 42.

Fig. 2 of the drawing shows clearly the construction of tank 20 and its internal component parts. The line I 8 extends upwardly into the tank 20 through the bottom thereof and terminates a short distance above the bottom of tank 290. A plurality oi brackets 44 aflixed directly to the line I8 within the tank 2B, carries a substantially semi-spherical baille member` 46 that is spaced above the innermost end of line I8 in direct alignment therewith. Y

A steam supply line 48 adapted for connection with a source of steam under pressure not shown, has a control valve 50 and extends into the vertical portion of line I8 in the manner shown in Fig. 2. The uppermost end of the steam -line 48 terminates above the lowermost end of the tank 20 and below the uppermost end of the line I8. The diameter o1 line 48 .is appreciably smaller than the diameter of the line I8 and the'uppermost open end of steam line 48 is flared outwardly as at 52.

In operation, when it is desired to treat the pores of the well 28 to condition the coating of paran therein to a point where the same is sufllciently liquid to pass with the oil through the tubing 32, the oil or other liquid within the tank I0 is permitted to iiow by force of gravity to pump I2 by way of pipe I4 through the simple expedient of opening valve I6. Operation of pump I2 forces such liquid under pressure through line I8 and into tank 20. Simultaneously, the valve y.'I'I is opened to permit steam pressure to pass into the tank by way of line 48. It is notable that the steam passing through line 48 will impinge upon the oil or other lqiuid in line I8 below the uppermost end of the latter and become thoroughly admixed therewith because of the flared outlet end 52 of line 48. As the admixed steam and oil flow into tank 20 at the uppermost end of line I8, such admixture will strike the lowermost face of the baffle member 46 and a turbulence will vtake* place capable of assuring that the steam thoroughly mixes with the oil ana heats the same fully and completely. The

contour of the bafile member 45 will not interfere"Y steam and' oilybutv will. change the direction of flow thereof, thereby assuring that maximum heating of oil takes with the free flow of place with a relatively small amounto steam. The admixed steam and oil are permitted to branch joining with means ink said line and dwell within the tank 20 for a suicientfperiod Y of time to heat the oil to a predetermined temperature. This dwelling action is accomplished through. the thermostatic valve 24, the same opening only when the temperature is at a suiilciently high degree. The heated admixture thereupon passes through conduit 22, and with valve 36 open and valve 42 closed, the same will pass directly into the casing 39 through pipe 3A. The' heated uid drops by force ofgravity downwardlyA through casing 38 for admixture with the oil at the bottom of well 28 and when the same comes linto contact'with the paraffinA coated pores of well' 28, such'paraiiin will be loosened and. permitted to flow from well 23 outwardly by wayv of tubing 32. The heated liquid passing through tubingr 32 will also loosen any parain coatings that may be therein.

It is-seen that. theentire operation or treating well 28, can take place at any time without shutdown of the pumping operation. A

In the event that it is desired to treat oilfor any purpose whatsoever by heating the same, the same system and apparatus can be usedby merely closing valve 36 and opening valve 62. The heated liquid passing through conduit 22 will thereupon return to the storage'tank l0 by-way of conduit 40. The recirculation of the liquid being treated may continue until such timeA as the treating. operation is complete and satisfactory.

It is clear ,from the foregoing that there'has been provided a simple, inexpensive andv easily ,operatedmeansor treating oil or any liquidf; by means of heat, whether bya Arecirculationprocess Vfrom a storage tank, or an oil weil itself during operation thereof.

Many changes might well be made over and above the single embodiment hereofand it is, therefore, understood that such changes and open end within the tank for fairly come within the scope oi the appended claims, are contemplated hereby.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for treating oil wells comprising a storage container for well-treating oil; a hollow tank; a conduit connecting the tank at the bottom thereof with said container; a pump interposed in said conduit for directing oil under pressure from the container into the tank; a pipe extending into the conduit and terminating in an directing steam into the oil-as ther same flows into the tank; an outlet line at thetop of said tank adapted for connection with an oil well to be treated and having a the container; and valve said branch respectively for selectively discharging oil and steam admixture from the tank into the well or into the container..

2. Apparatus `for. treating oil wells comprising a storage container for well-treating oil; a hollow` tank; a conduit connecting the tank at the bottom thereof with said container; a pump interposed in said conduit for'directing oil under pressure froml the oontainerinto the tank; a pipe modifications as extending into the conduit and terminating in an open end within the tank for directing steam into the oil as the same-flows into the tank; an outletiline atthe top of said tank adapted for connectionwith an oil well to be treated and having abran-ch joining with the container; valve means in'said line and said branch respectively for selecvely discharging'oil and steam admixture'iro'm thev tankinto the well or into the container, the endsofsaid conduit and said steam pipe within the tank beingnear' the bottom of the latter;: and a-horlzo'ntal baille in overlying,y spaced relationship to said ends for deflecting the steam and oil enteringthe-tank whereby to create a turbulence of admixedv oil and steam in the tank.

' ANDREW CRAIG RUSSELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: v

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

